Objective:To evaluate the practical value of ultrasound, ultrasound new technologies (ultrasound elastography, contrast enhanced ultrasound) and computed tomography (CT) examination alone or the combination of both of the four in the clinical diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by meta-analysis system.Methods:This study screened relevant literature on ultrasound, new ultrasound technologies, and CT in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer by searching Chinese and English databases from January 2006 to August 2023. Two scholars independently assessed the quality of the literatures and scored them using the QUADAS scale. Then, the diagnostic ratio of single and combined examinations was analyzed by Meta-Disc software, and the heterogeneity test and meta-analysis were performed to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, diagnostic ratio, accuracy, and area under curve (AUC). Finally, the diagnostic efficacies of different diagnostic techniques and their combination in identifying lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer were assessed by calculating OR and P values by two-by-two comparisons. Results:Sixty-nine diagnostic studies totaling 30, 666 lesions were finally included. The meta-analysis study showed that contrast enhanced ultrasound had the highest sensitivity[0.83(0.77-0.87)], ultrasound specificity was the highest [0.84(0.79-0.88)], the highest AUC was for contrast enhanced ultrasound (0.90), and contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography had high accuracies (0.81, 0.80, respectively) both of them were higher than those of ultrasound (0.77) and CT (0.69). Contrast enhanced ultrasound and ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive than CT, with statistically significant differences between them ( P<0.01); contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography had the highest accuracy, while ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography were both more sensitive, with no statistically significant differences between them ( P>0.05), but the latter had the highest specificity [0.90(0.88-0.92)], which were statistically significantly different from each other ( P<0.05), ultrasound+ contrast enhanced ultrasound and contrast enhanced ultrasound+ ultrasound elastography had higher sensitivities than ultrasound+ CT, which were statistically different from each other ( P<0.05), and ultrasound+ CT had the lowest specificity [0.76(0.70-0.81)]. Conclusions:The diagnostic efficacy of thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis is highest with contrast enhanced ultrasound. The new ultrasound technique for diagnosing thyroid cancer lymph node metastasis has a higher diagnostic value than CT, and it can be used as a complementary examination to conventional ultrasound.When the two techniques are used in combination, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography has the highest accuracy, contrast enhanced ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + contrast enhanced ultrasound both have high sensitivity and specificity, and the diagnostic performance of both is higher than that of ultrasound + ultrasound elastography and ultrasound + CT, and in actual clinical practice when ultrasound elastography combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound is limited in the examination, ultrasound combined with contrast enhanced ultrasound can effectively serve as an alternative means to provide a good diagnostic support.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in promoting recovery of the facial function with the involvement of autophagy, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), and phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway. METHODS: Seventy-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into the control, sham-operated, facial nerve injury (FNI), EA, EA+3-methyladenine (3-MA), and EA+GDNF antagonist groups using a random number table, with 12 rats in each group. An FNI rat model was established with facial nerve crushing method. EA intervention was conducted at Dicang (ST 4), Jiache (ST 6), Yifeng (SJ 17), and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 2 weeks. The Simone's 10-Point Scale was utilized to monitor the recovery of facial function. The histopathological evaluation of facial nerves was performed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The levels of Beclin-1, light chain 3 (LC3), and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), immunofluorescence, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Additionally, IHC was also used to detect the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR. RESULTS: The facial functional scores were significantly increased in the EA group than the FNI group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). HE staining showed nerve axons and myelin sheaths, which were destroyed immediately after the injury, were recovered with EA treatment. The expressions of Beclin-1 and LC3 were significantly elevated and the expression of P62 was markedly reduced in FNI rats (P<0.01); however, EA treatment reversed these abnormal changes (P<0.01). Meanwhile, EA stimulation significantly increased the levels of GDNF, Rai, PI3K, and mTOR (P<0.01). After exogenous administration with autophagy inhibitor 3-MA or GDNF antagonist, the repair effect of EA on facial function was attenuated (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS EA could promote the recovery of facial function and repair the facial nerve damages in a rat model of FNI. EA may exert this neuroreparative effect through mediating the release of GDNF, activating the PI3K/mTOR signaling pathway, and further regulating the autophagy of facial nerves.
Rats ; Male ; Animals ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Electroacupuncture ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/metabolism* ; Facial Nerve Injuries/therapy* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Beclin-1 ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Signal Transduction ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Autophagy ; Mammals/metabolism*

OBJECTIVE: To detect the differentially expressed inflammatory proteins in acute gouty arthritis (AGA) with protein chip. METHODS: The Raybiotech cytokine antibody chip was used to screen the proteomic expression in serum samples of 10 AGA patients and 10 healthy individuals. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis were applied to determine the biological function annotation of differentially expressed proteins and the enrichment of signal pathways. ELISA method was used to verify the differential protein expression in 60 AGA patients and 60 healthy subjects. The ROC curve was employed to evaluate the diagnostic value of differential proteins in AGA patients. RESULTS: According to|log CONCLUSIONS Proteomics can be applied to identify the biomarkers of AGA, which may be used for risk prediction and diagnosis of AGA patients.
Arthritis, Gouty/diagnosis* ; Cytokines/genetics* ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Protein Array Analysis ; Proteomics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlations of echocardiographic parameters in patients with gout. METHODS: The hospitalization data and medical records of patients with gout between January, 2012 and June, 2019 were retrieved from the database of Anhui Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the echocardiographic parameters and clinical laboratory test results of the inflammatory, immunological and metabolic indicators were analyzed. SPSS 22.0, SPSS Clementine 11.1 Aprior and other statistical software were used to determine the association rules and carry out correlation analysis, heat map analysis and multi-factor logistic regression analysis of the indicators. RESULTS: Heat map analysis showed that the expressions of EF and SV were the most significant, followed by AODd, LADs, LVDd and FS. Cluster analysis showed that AODd, EF, FS, LADs, LVDd, and SV were all in cluster 1, and IVSTd, LVPWTd, MPAD, Pmax, and RVDd were in cluster 2. Correlation analysis showed that in the 383 patients, EF was negatively correlated with LVDd ( < 0.05) and positively correlated with FS and SV ( < 0.05); AODd was positively correlated with IVSTd, LADs, LVDd, LVPWTd, RVDd, SV, and ESR ( < 0.05); FS was positively correlated with EF and SV ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with LVDd ( < 0.05);IVSTd was positively correlated with AODd, LADs, LVPWTd, and complement C4 ( < 0.05); LADs were positively correlated with AODd, IVSTd, MPAD, RVDd, and SV ( < 0.05); LVDd was positively correlated with AODd, IVSTd ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with LVDd and complement C3 ( < 0.05); MPAD and LADs, HDLC and TC were positively correlated ( < 0.05)and negatively correlated with Pmax ( < 0.05); Pmax was positively correlated with LVDd, RVDd and SV ( < 0.05)and negatively correlated with FS and MPAD ( < 0.05); RVDd was positively correlated with AODd, LADs, LVDd, Pmax, SV ( < 0.05); SV was positively correlated with AODd, EF, LADs, LVDd, Pmax, and RVDd ( < 0.05); complement C3 was positively correlated with complement C4 and CRP ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with LVPWTd ( < 0.05); complement C4 was positively correlated with IVSTd, complement C3, CRP, and ESR ( < 0.05); CRP was positively correlated with complement C3, complement C4, IgA, IgG ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with TC, HDLC, and TG ( < 0.05); TG was positively correlated with HDLC, IgM, and TC ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); HDLC was positively correlated with MPAD, HDLC and TC ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); IgA was positively correlated with CRP, IgG and IgM ( < 0.05); IgG was positively correlated with CRP, IgA and IgM ( < 0.05); IgM is positively correlated with TG, IgA, IgG, UA ( < 0.05) and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05); UA was positively correlated with IgM ( < 0.05); ESR was positively correlated with AODd and complement C4 ( < 0.05); HCY was negatively correlated with RVDd ( < 0.05); TC was positively correlated with MPAD and TG ( < 0.05), and negatively correlated with CRP ( < 0.05). The increase of Pmax was significantly associated with the increase of LDL-C, UA, complement C4, TG, HCY, HDL-C, IgG, ESR, CRP, and complement C3; the increase of SV was associated with the elevations of UA, LDL-C, complement C4, HDL-C, CRP, IgG, HCY, TC, ESR, TG, and complement C3. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that FS was positively correlated with LDL-C ( < 0.05), Pmax was negatively correlated with IgM ( < 0.05), and SV was negatively correlated with ESR ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The changes of echocardiographic parameters in patients with gout are correlated with the increase in inflammation, immunity, and metabolic indexes. Patients with a history of smoking and drinking do not show obvious changes in cardiac function. The changes in metabolic indexes are risk factors for changes in echocardiographic parameters.
Echocardiography ; Gout ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors

Translational medicine means that to establish a bridge between fundamental research and clinical medicine through bidirectional translation path in order to promote the translation and application from fundamental research to clinical medicine.The purpose of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) translational model is to collate and build one multidimensional TCM translational model,rationality carry out the research on TCM translation.Three paths have been confirmed,where are from literature research to clinical verification,from clinical application to clinical verification,and from experiment to clinical verification.In this research,methodology of one path mcntioned above could be established,which is the key technology of translational medicine.Take constipation,insomnia,and post-flu cough as target diseases to investigate the herbal compounds which could be qualified for clinical application based on preliminary work.This research not only provided clinical data to TCM translation,but also established one methodology of TCM translation path--"from experiment to clinical verification".

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of the new investigational drug pegylated interferon α-2b (Peg-IFN-α-2b) (Y shape, 40 kD) injection (180 µg/week) combined with ribavirin in the treatment of patients with genotype 1/6 chronic hepatitis C (CHC), with standard-dose Peg-IFN-α-2a combined with ribavirin as a positive control. Methods: A multicenter, randomized, open-label, and positive-controlled phase III clinical trial was performed. Eligible patients with genotype 1/6 CHC were screened out and randomly divided into Peg-IFN-α-2b(Y shape, 40kD) group and Peg-IFN-α-2a group at a ratio of 2:1. The patients in both groups were given oral ribavirin for 48 weeks in addition and then followed up for 24 weeks after drug withdrawal. Abbott Real Time HCV Genotype II was used to determine HCV genotype, and Cobas TaqMan quantitative real-time PCR was used to measure HCV RNA level at 0, 4, 12, 24, 48, and 72 weeks. Adverse events were recorded in detail. The primary efficacy endpoint was sustained virological response (SVR), and a non-inferiority test was also performed. Results: A total of 561 patients with genotype 1/6 CHC were enrolled, among whom 529 received treatment; 90.9% of these patients had genotype 1 CHC. The data of the full analysis set showed that SVR rate was 69.80% (95% CI 65.00%-74.60%) in the trial group and 74.16% (95% CI 67.73%-80.59%) in the control group (P = 0.297 0). The data of the per protocol set (PPS) showed that SVR rate was 80.63% (95% CI 76.04%-85.23%) in the trial group and 81.33% (95% CI 75.10%-87.57%) in the control group (P = 0.849 8), and the 95% CI of rate difference conformed to the non-inferiority standard. The analysis of the PPS population showed that of all subjects, 47.9% achieved rapid virologic response, with a positive predictive value of 93.8%. The incidence rate of adverse events was 96.30% in the trial group and 94.94% in the control group, and the incidence rate of serious adverse events was 5.13% in the trail group and 5.06% in the control group. Conclusion In the regimen of Peg-IFN-α combined with ribavirin for the treatment of genotype 1/6 CHC, the new investigational drug Peg-IFN-α-2b(Y shape, 40 kD) has comparable clinical effect and safety to the control drug Peg-IFN-α-2a.

Objective: To investigate the clinical effect and safety of long-acting pegylated interferon-α-2b (Peg-IFN-α-2b) (Y shape, 40 kD) injection (180 μg/week) in the treatment of HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, with standard-dose Peg-IFN-α-2a as positive control. Methods: This study was a multicenter, randomized, open-label, and positive-controlled phase III clinical trial. Eligible HBeAg-positive CHB patients were screened out and randomized to Peg-IFN-α-2b (Y shape, 40 kD) trial group and Peg-IFN-α-2a control group at a ratio of 2:1. The course of treatment was 48 weeks and the patients were followed up for 24 weeks after drug withdrawal. Plasma samples were collected at screening, baseline, and 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 weeks for centralized detection. COBAS® Ampliprep/COBAS® TaqMan® HBV Test was used to measure HBV DNA level by quantitative real-time PCR. Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay with Elecsys kit was used to measure HBV markers (HBsAg, anti-HBs, HBeAg, anti-HBe). Adverse events were recorded in detail. The primary outcome measure was HBeAg seroconversion rate after the 24-week follow-up, and non-inferiority was also tested. The difference in HBeAg seroconversion rate after treatment between the trial group and the control group and two-sided confidence interval (CI) were calculated, and non-inferiority was demonstrated if the lower limit of 95% CI was > -10%. The t-test, chi-square test, or rank sum test was used according to the types and features of data. Results: A total of 855 HBeAg-positive CHB patients were enrolled and 820 of them received treatment (538 in the trial group and 282 in the control group). The data of the full analysis set showed that HBeAg seroconversion rate at week 72 was 27.32% in the trial group and 22.70% in the control group with a rate difference of 4.63% (95% CI -1.54% to 10.80%, P = 0.1493). The data of the per-protocol set showed that HBeAg seroconversion rate at week 72 was 30.75% in the trial group and 27.14% in the control group with a rate difference of 3.61% (95% CI -3.87% to 11.09%, P = 0.3436). 95% CI met the non-inferiority criteria, and the trial group was non-inferior to the control group. The two groups had similar incidence rates of adverse events, serious adverse events, and common adverse events. Conclusion In Peg-IFN-α regimen for HBeAg-positive CHB patients, the new drug Peg-IFN-α-2b (Y shape, 40 kD) has comparable effect and safety to the control drug Peg-IFN-α-2a.

Phase-Controled high intensity focused ultrasound 3D temperature distribution is the key indicator for measuring the efficiency of HIFU transducer. Considerable progress has been achieved in the use of infrared (IR) imaging techniques for qualitative mapping of acoustic and thermal field of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducers. This article proposes a method to measure phased-controled characteristics of HIFU based on infrared thermal imaging and establishes a whole measurement system to make the method more quantitative and reliable. The result shows that the proposed measurement system is able to measure pHIFU characteristics rapidly and precisely, which wil be of great significance in standardizing the measurement of pHIFU acoustic field.

This study was aimed to screen out a safe and effective traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound prescription in insomnia treatment, through the method of uniform design and comprehensive scoring method. It provided candidate drugs to further research and development of TCM new drug. U7(76) uniform design was used to divide groups. The test was given on sleep time prolonging effect of mice injected with pentobarbital sodium. The subliminal dosage of pentobarbital hypnosis was tested on mice injected with pentobarbital sodium. The acute toxicity (LD50) was tested on mice. Comprehensive scoring method was applied to evaluate the effect to determine the optimum dose. The results showed the optimized prescription was composed of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis and Schisandra chinensis. The optimum ratio was 1:3. It was concluded that the uniform design was applied in the experimental design with 3 factors and 6 levels. Comprehensive scoring method was used to evaluate the combined effect. The optimized prescription that put benefit and risk into consideration was composed of Radix Sophorae Flavescentis and Schisandra chinensis. The best ratio was 1:3, which can be further developed.

Objective To discuss the content determination method ofα-asarone in Dianxianqing Granules. Methods Kromasil C18 column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) was used, with methanol and water as mobile phase of gradient elution. The flow rate was 1.0 mL/min, and the detection wavelength was 257 nm. The column temperature was 25 ℃. Results The sample solution was prepared by reflux extracted with 70% ethanol for 20 min. α-asarone had a good linearity in the ranges of 1.24×10-3-7.44×10-3μg (r=0.999 5). The method was quite good in precision, stability and repeatability, and the average recovery ofα-asarone was 98.14%, with corresponding RSD of 2.5%. Conclusion The experiment provides an accurate and fast analytical method for α-asarone determination in compound preparation of traditional Chinese medicine.